Delivering Administrative Justice

This chapter examines administrative justice as a system, asking if justice is delivered (rather than ‘accessed’). The background issues are: What do people seek, and what is the incidence of problems? It notes the relevance of the Regulatory Delivery Model that is being applied to regulatory authorities. It then poses three criteria for evaluation of the system: (1) How do people identify and access information, advice, support, and assistance in solving their problems? (2) How do we ensure that dispute-resolution pathways are simple, effective, and cost-effective and deliver justice to people and organizations? (3) How do we identify systemic problems, and address them so as to reduce risk of future recurrence? The data available for answering those questions in relation to administrative justice in England and Wales do not support comfortable answers as to the functioning of current systems in various respects. Suggestions for future reform and research therefore arise.